how to … natural

help low level learners with pronunciation English

by Scott Thornbury teacher development

detailed plan

stage procedure

stage 1 Cut worksheets A and B for stage 1 into individual cards, one card per
trainee, so that there are matching cards from both sets A and B
warmer distributed among the trainees. If there are more than 24 trainees,
5–10 minutes photocopy the worksheet and make as many extra cards as are required.
Hand out the cards, asking trainees to keep them ‘secret’. Explain that
they must memorize the sentence on the cards, stand up and mingle
with other trainees, saying the sentence until they find someone whose
sentence matches theirs. Only then can they show one another their
cards, to confirm that they are the same. They can then continue
mingling, in case there is a third or fourth person with the same
sentence.

In order to dramatize the activity, you can explain that they are spies at
an annual convention of spies, looking for a fellow spy by exchanging
passwords (the sentence on the card).

If you wanted to make the activity more challenging, tell the trainees
that they have to work the sentence into a conversation, in such a way
that it occurs naturally. Only by taking part in the conversation will they
be able to find out who their ‘secret contact’ is.

Briefly discuss with the group the purpose of this activity (e.g. what
aspects of pronunciation does it target?), and what difficulties low level
learners might encounter doing it.

stage 2 Hand out worksheet for stage 2. Ask trainees, working in pairs or small
groups, first to work out what the terms that are written in phonemic
definition task script say, and then to match the terms with their definitions.
10–15 minutes
Check the task in open class. Check any phonemic symbols that may cause
problems. Clarify any problems with terminology. Ask trainees to suggest
which of these areas of pronunciation might be most problematic for low
level learners, giving reasons.

Note: for groups that are unfamiliar with phonemic symbols, see natural
English intermediate teacher’s book chapter ‘how to … teach phonemic
script’ (pp. 168–171), for ideas on how to introduce and use these symbols.

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation detailed plan 1
stage 3 Hand out worksheet for stage 3. Ask the trainees, working in pairs or
small groups, to identify what aspect of pronunciation teaching each one
identifying activity types targets (by referring to their list from stage 2).
10–15 minutes
Solicit open class feedback.

stage 4 Write the following list of grammar and vocabulary items on the board,
or hand out worksheet for stage 4. Point out that the items are all
application task typical lower level syllabus items. Ask the trainees, working in groups of
20–25 minutes 3 or 4, to predict the kinds of pronunciation problems that learners might
have with each of these areas.

1 present continuous statements, e.g. Rafael is playing tennis.

2 present simple questions, e.g. Where does she live? What do you do?
3 clothing vocabulary, e.g. shirt, shorts, suit, shoes, jacket, coat, scarf, etc.
4 ordinal numbers, i.e. first, second, third, fourth, etc.
5 regular past tense verbs, e.g. walked, finished, started, lived, etc.
6 polite requests with Can you…? e.g. Can you turn the music down,
please?

They should then think of techniques or strategies for dealing with the
difficulties. They can discuss this in their groups. (You can refer them to
worksheet 3 for teaching ideas).

Note: to save time, distribute the six areas to different groups, e.g. two
per group.

Reorganize the trainees into new groups so that each new group contains
at least one member of each of the original groups. They can then
describe to one another the ideas that they came up with.

stage 5 Choose a page or double spread from the natural English elementary
student’s book that includes some listening and / or speaking activities.
extension activity For example, pages 19–20, 25, 35–36, 39 and 42, 59–60. Different groups
20–25 minutes could be given different extracts to look at.

Ask trainees to study the material, individually, before forming small

groups. In their groups, they should discuss where additional
pronunciation work could usefully be incorporated into a sequence of
classroom activities based on the material. For example, could any
recordings be used to focus on a feature of spoken English? (Remind
trainees that the transcripts of the recordings may be found at the back of
the natural English elementary student’s book).

Regroup the trainees (as in stage 4) so that they can report on their ideas
to other trainees. Alternatively, conduct an open-class report back
session.

Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2006 how to … help low level learners with pronunciation detailed plan 2